Because We Can
by Amythista
Summary: Drabble, preportal. A scientist named Wheatley apologizes to a not-yet-activated GLaDOS.


A/N: THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, GUYS. BEING SO NICE AND MAKING ME WANT TO WRITE FOR THIS FANDOM AGAIN.

*cough* So. I have two things to say. 1. I have created a new community based around GLaDOS and Wheatley. Not necessarily romatically.

2. I have a long idea for a story that I think I'll need help with. So if you're interested in betareading/helping me with a long, epic story, involving Chell's capture, GLaDOS and Wheatley breaking into Black Mesa undercover to save her, and eventual, gradual, developed GLaDOS/Wheatley, send me a PM. That's the short version, however I hate long author's notes (like this one) so I'll save the rest for the PM. Yes, now you can read the story.

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><p>Matthew Wheatley drummed his fingers on the desk in boredom. It was nearing the end of the work day and he had somehow managed not to screw up the paperwork he had been assigned, so it was just a bit of a wait and then he'd be free to go back to his little apartment, make himself some tea, and try to forget about the horrible experiment he was pretty sure he had just approved. <em>No, don't think about it. Tea. Mm, tea. What kind of tea?<em>

"Wheatley."

_Black tea! Nah, had that yesterday. Or the day before. All these days just blend together, don't they? Bloody Aperture and their bloody experiments- no, don't think about it, don't think about it!_

"Wheatley!"

_Tea, yes, yes, right, tea. Uhm. Do I even have any tea? Must at least have good ole Earl Gray stashed away somewhere-_

"WHEATLEY!"

"Eh?" He was startled suddenly out of his thoughts by his supervisor, who sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You spaced out. Day's over, go home."

"Right!" Matthew replied cheerfully, standing and shuffling some papers. "Gotcha. I'll just, um, I'll just be going now." He turned, but his supervisor had already left. "...right, then..."

He let out a quiet sigh and turned back to his mess of a desk, letting his gaze trail over the nicknacks on it. He had been working at Aperture for nearly six years now, and yet it wasn't until recently that the idea of quitting really began to appeal to him. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it before, it was just that one recent_...invention..._of Aperture's had left him severely disgusted with the company.

More specifically, the GLaDOS project.

Just thinking about it made his blood boil.

He hadn't known Caroline Anderson very well. He was too far down the ranking and too far away from the well-lit offices where she spent her time to really get to know her. But they had met and chatted a few times, in the break room, at a Christmas party, in the halls. He knew how upset she was about the death of Cave Johnson, the founder of Aperture. He knew that she had worked the hardest on the GLaDOS project when Mr. Johnson was still alive. He knew that she had submitted herself to her fate without a fight, or so the reports said.

But he also knew how loud her screams and cries were, and those were what gave him the nightmares.

Wheatley picked up his briefcase and walked out of his little cubicle. Most of his time now was spent working on GLaDOS, so he wasn't working in his office much. He normally would be grateful for an excuse not to do paperwork, but a little part of him wanted nothing more to be back in his cubicle signing papers. Because when he looked up at GLaDOS, he always thought of pretty, reliable Caroline, who always smiled and tried to stay positive even in the worst scenario possible.

Wheatley didn't even register that he was walking towards GLaDOS's chamber until he had stepped inside and looked at the sleeping giant.

He debated with himself whether or not to move forwards, but his feet were already walking down the platform steps towards the AI. He laid his briefcase down and trained his eyes on where her dormant optic was.

They'd be turning her on in a few weeks, just for Bring Your Daughter to Work Day. This sounded like an awful idea to Wheatley, but he didn't dare question it. If he complained, he could be taken off the team, and for some reason, he wanted to be there when she woke up, just so she'd have one sympathetic face.

He walked backwards to get the full look of GLaDOS, then frowned. She looked...

He walked sideways a bit more, to face her from a full-on 90-degree angle. There was no denying it. She looked like a woman, hanging from the ceiling.

Trapped.

Her optic looked like a helmet, hanging low, but far from the ground. Cables ran like arms behind her, and the whole structure twisted up towards the ceiling in a feminine way. She hung there, quiet, docile, imprisoned, and it made him furious.

"Who's sick idea for a joke was this...?" he wondered aloud, moving to face her optic again. Staring into the dull amber orb, he felt as though he should say something, but he wasn't quite sure what.

"I, um..." he paused as he self-consciously checked around for other people. "I want to, um...apologize. For everything."

The machine didn't reply, but she also didn't look at him funny or look away awkwardly or really give any reaction at all, which gave him the courage to continue.

"I...I'm not the brightest bloke, am I?" he gave a derisive chuckle. "I dunno how they managed to get you in there. I dunno if there's any way to get you out. But-" he looked up, eyes burning with determination. "If there's anything I can do to help you, I swear I'll do it. If those bloody scientists want to...to...p-put your brain in a _can,_or something...well, I don't know why they'd want to do that, you're already in this huge body and- that's not the point here! The point is..." he paused and walked closer, stopping a foot away from her optic. He studied it for a moment.

"...I don't want you to be hurt more than you already have been," he told her sincerely. "It's not right, what they've done to you. Not moral. And I don't give a damn what the records say, you...you weren't _taken_without a fight. So who's to say that you won't come back into the world without one? But, I just...Caroline, GLaDOS, whatever you bloody want to be called, don't do anything you'll regret, all right? I don't want them to shut you off. That's...that's worse than death. I dunno if you're in pain right now, I dunno if you can even hear me or if I'm just talking to a great shell of a machine. Er, not that you're a machine," he added hastily. "Well, you are, but...you're human! Human as the rest of us. You're born as a human. You'll just live forever now, that's all." He winced. "And, er, you're bloody brilliant now. N-not that you weren't before! Just, er, um...I should...go..."

With that, he made a quick retreat out of the chamber, cursing his intelligence every step of the way.

And she watched him go.

Two weeks later, he was her tumor.


End file.
